Cooking up a Dragon - Snake Soup

Recently, I bought a book from www.paddyfield.com called, "Cooking up a Dragon" which is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Hong Kong cuisine. The book contains recipes from a cross-section of Hong Kong ranging from tiny Dai Pai Dongs to Haute Cuisine offered in 5 Star Hotels.

When I first received the book, I eagerly flicked through each page until, to my absolute amazement, I found a recipe for SNAKE SOUP submitted by none other than the famous snake shop "Shia Wong Hip" in Sham Shui Po.

Now, not really wanting to go out of my way to buy my own special snake or snakes just to make this recipe (ok, still a bit petrified from my last snake shop experience), I decided to visit the shop today to see if I could actually pluck up the courage to try this famous delicacy. I arrived just before lunch time and studied the snakes in a cage out front before scanning the shop itself... lots of gweilo photo's on the walls, small uninspiring tables and stools, and the familiar wooden crates that I had seen previously at the snake shop in Sheung Wan. Ok, this is all right now let's see about hygiene. There was one Chinese gentleman busy tucking into his steaming bowl of soup and I actually saw another lady getting hers so was relieved to see that porcelain bowls and spoons were actually taken out of a steamer that sterilised the crockery and utensils. Not really wanting to get a dose of food poisoning, in addition to feeling sick after tasting the soup, I felt a lot better that at least I wouldn't get sick from the lack of hygiene.

Not knowing enough Cantonese to ask the lady for a spoonful rather than a bowl we played charades until she understood that I didn't actually want a regular bowl but just a taste. She removed a porcelain spoon and small bowl from the steamer then started filling it until it measured about half a cup. The soup and crockery was extremely hot, so I sat down, waited for a bit then took a tiny amount from the side of my bowl, sipped it then waited for the "yuck" factor to arrive. BUT, funnily enough it DIDN'T and all I could taste was a delicate sweet soup with hints of ginger and citrus. Although, I could see strands of snake in my bowl and the colour was a murky brown, the taste wasn't overpowering and the snake actually tasted a bit like chicken although I would go on to say that chicken meat is a bit stronger. I continued to sip my delightful snake soup and after I had finished went over to pay but the lovely lady motioned me to put my money back in my purse, gave me a hug and with a big smile ushered me out on to the street.

Shia Wong Hip is located at G/F 170 Apliu Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: +852 23869064

Note: If you buy the book you can substitute chicken for snake... phew! Also, click on the title to this post to see "Le Gourmet TV" footage of "Shia Wong Hip". The lady holding the snakes,"Chau Ka-Ling" is the lovely lady and restaurant owner that refused to take my money.

Also visit http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071220-snake-video-ap.html

Copyright © 2008 - 2009 All Rights Reserved

The Old Streets of Sai Kung

In the old streets of Sai Kung I discovered a little shop called "Wo Cheong Hou" located on the G/F No. 14 Main Street Sai Kung, New Territories. Inside, perched on a stool, sat a little old man called Mr Mak who is one of the last remaining iron mongers in Sai Kung if not Hong Kong. Displayed proudly all over one wall were photo's of Margaret Thatcher, her entourage and Mr Mak when she had last visited his shop. Out front were Mr Mak's hand made buckets, watering cans, metal boxes and the like and towards the back an assortment of mail boxes.

On Hong Kong island I normally find that the locals are quite reluctant for me to take their photo but when I asked Mr Mak he immediately straightened his back, adjusted is glasses and obligingly struck a pose. Mr Mak absolutely made my day! And, I have to say that I felt very honoured to be able to take his photo as I was not only capturing a remarkable man but also a part of Hong Kong's history. Mr Mak is 93 years old, still works very hard and credits his good health to his diet and exercise. He explained that there aren't too many products on the market like his anymore because the youth of today aren't interested in learning a trade that's not profitable enough. So after spending a lovely half hour with Mr Mak and one of his neighbours I proudly walked away with a smile on my face and my shiny new mailbox tucked under my arm.

Next stop down the street and around the corner was a little tea shop called "Tea & Zen". Here I spent a good couple of hours talking to Raymond and his wife Debbie (the owners), Clarence and Maria. I learnt what I was doing wrong when I was making my pu-erh (bolay) tea and I also received a Cantonese language lesson. We then talked a little about global politics, cultural differences and photography all the while sipping our pu-erh. Then, much to our delight and unbeknown to us, Maria had visited one of the street stalls and had come back with brown paper bags full of Chinese egg puffs, which were absolutely delicious. It was a wonderful afternoon and I walked away with some pu-erh tea to replenish the stock in my cupboard. Must remember to put 5 gm pu-erh in a small teapot (10 gm for a larger one) and to flush the tea leaves twice before steeping in boiling water. After the tea has steeped for about 30 seconds you can then pour the tea into a glass jug and leave the tea leaves dry in the pot until you are ready to make more tea. You can do this up to about ten times at one sitting before disposing of the tea leaves.
Copyright © 2008 - 2009 All Rights Reserved

Mahjong Advanced Level

OMG… on 23 October 2008 it was my first lesson of Mahjong at the advanced level and it is sooooooo much more complicated! During the beginners course we were playing what was called chicken hands. Here we were able to get a set of 3 suits of any kind and/or consecutive runs e.g. 1, 2, 3 or 3, 4, 5 of any suit and a pair of eyes. At the advanced level, however, there are no more chicken hands but we are playing chicken style… confused? Yep, so was I.

Need a lot more practice which is hard since no expats really play this style nearby so will have to wait until next week by which time I will have probably forgotten what I learnt tonight. As I’m a bit of a spring chicken though I think I like chicken hands better.